There is no doubt that Princess Diana loved her sons William and Harry very much.
And like any adoring mother, she came up with pet names for them – which the princes undoubtedly found terribly embarrassing.
During an interview with NBC’s Today show prior to the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium on July 1, 2007, journalist Matt Lauer questioned Prince William about a childhood nickname he had: Wombat.
‘She used to call you “Wombat” which is cute… when you’re seven,’ the American news personality quipped.
‘Yeah,’ an 25-year-old William begrudgingly replied.
‘I guess you don’t want your mates in the pub going, “Hey Wombat, how are you?’ Matt said.
‘It kind of stuck with me,’ William admitted, ‘I can’t get rid of it now.’
The prince explained that his mother began calling him Wombat during a six-week royal tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1983.
Prince William and Prince Harry speak on stage at the Concert for Diana on July 1, 2007
Prior to the fundraiser, the brothers had taken part in an interview with Matt Lauer on NBC Today
At the age of two, William was still crawling when he embarked on the 10,000-mile journey to partake in his first significant overseas visit.
Malcolm Fraser, the Australian Prime Minister at the time, had written to the Prince and Princess of Wales saying that he appreciated the problems facing the young family and invited them to bring the prince along as well.
Fraser’s considerate gesture enabled the family to lengthen the visit from a four-week trip to a six-week tour of both Australia and New Zealand.
‘The first foreign trip we took William to was Australia and New Zealand,’ Diana told her biographer Andrew Morton. ‘That was for six weeks.
‘That was great – we were a family unit and everything was fine.
‘It was very tricky, mentally, for me, because the crowds were just something to be believed.
‘My husband had never seen crowds like it and I sure as hell hadn’t and everyone kept saying it will all quieten down when you’ve had your first baby, and it never quietened down, never.’
During the visit William stayed at Woomargama, a 4,000-yard sheep station in New South Wales, with his nanny Barbara Barnes and assorted security personnel.
Prince Charles, Princess Diana and Prince William on their six-week royal tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1983
Malcolm Fraser, the Australian Prime Minister at the time, invited the couple to bring the young prince along as well
The Princess of Wales greets the crowds in Canberra, Australia on March 25, 1983
Nanny Barbara Barnes (pictured) looked after Prince William when his parents were busy with royal engagements
While his parents could only be with him during the occasional break in an otherwise busy schedule, Diana was happy to know that William was under the same skies.
‘The wombat, you know, that’s the local animal,’ William explained to Lauer decades later ahead of the Concert for Diana. ‘So I just basically got called that.
‘Not because I look like a wombat. Or maybe I do.’
‘You know what it was?’ said Harry, jumping at the chance to wind up his older brother. ‘He was still crawling at six.’
‘He was?’ asked Matt.
‘He still couldn’t walk,’ Harry insisted. ‘He was still lazy.’
Playing along with the brotherly banter, Matt turned to William and said: ‘Alright, get him back. What’s his nickname?’
Without missing a beat, William replied: ‘Oh, Ginger.
The Wales Brothers pose at Wembley Stadium as they inspect the venue ahead of the Concert for Diana
Princess Diana and her sons pictured together on August 19, 1995
‘Whatever. You can call him whatever you want,’ William added.
‘Most of them I can’t call in front of here. You know, a bit rude. He’s got plenty.’
‘Ginger?’ Matt asked Harry.
To which the 21-year-old prince replied: ‘I know exactly. You’re as surprised as I am. I don’t think I’m ginger.’
‘Apart from the fact you are,’ William interrupted.
‘Shall we not?’ Harry said in an attempt to end the conversation. ‘Let’s not.’
But William is correct in saying that Harry has ‘plenty’ of nicknames.
In his bombshell memoir Spare, Harry writes that his father and brother refer to him as ‘Harold’, despite the Duke of Sussex being christened as Henry Charles Albert David.
In the bombshell memoir Spare, Harry reveals that both his brother William and father Charles refer to him as ‘Harold’ although he was christened as Henry Charles Albert David
Princess Diana lovingly referred to William as ‘wombat’ and Harry as ‘GKH’
The Princess of Wales greets her sons on the Royal Yacht Britannia in Toronto as they join her on an official visit to Canada in 1991
Throughout her Netflix series, Meghan Markle refers to her doting husband as ‘H’ or ‘Haz’ while his friends have been known to call him ‘Spike’.
And during the Channel 5 documentary, William & Harry: Princes at War?, royal expert Robert Jobson divulged that Diana used to refer to her youngest son as ‘GKH’.
‘She used to refer to Harry as GKH (Good King Harry) because she thought he’d probably be better equipped for the role in the future than William.’
The acronym supposedly came to be when a young William confided in his mother that he ‘didn’t want to be king’, and Harry happily offered to take on the role and its responsibilities instead.
